More than 70 colleges have been named and shamed for illegal enrollment and online fraud by a website, said Beijing Youth Daily.
China will include a football training session in the overall student appraisal system, the Ministry of Education announced on Thursday.
Bearing names similar to top universities, China's fake colleges woo and swindle high school graduates through slick recruitment websites.
China has issued a guideline on the ideological work in colleges, which underscored their role as facilitators on the frontline of championing the concepts of Marxism, Chinese Dream, socialist core values and traditional culture.
To those outside of China, the numbers "211" and "985" may hold little meaning, but inside the country they hold the power to determine the future career of millions of university graduates.